1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new protein derived from the middle silk gland of silkworm and a DNA encoding said protein.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, a large number of proteases are isolated from organisms, such as animals, plants, and microorganisms. They are used in a wide variety of fields, such as food processing, meat softening, leather industry, optical resolution, detergent additives, digestion or restrictive decomposition of proteins and peptides, analysis, identification, decomposition or synthesis of various peptides and proteins, and further, test reagents or pharmaceuticals for diseases.
As the range of the field for industrial use of proteases expands, there is a need for proteases which are highly stable and valuable for application in terms of substrate specificity or the like. Consequently, remodeling of proteases by so-called protein engineering or further search for new proteases of natural origin are in progress.